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[[Image:Emina Cunmulaj.jpg|Model [[Emina Cunmulaj]] wearing white Ray-Ban Wayfarers, September 2007|thumb|upright]]
[[Image:Emina Cunmulaj.jpg|Model [[Emina Cunmulaj]] wearing white Ray-Ban Wayfarers, September 2007|thumb|upright]]
Wayfarers were brought back into fashion in the mid-2000s when celebrities including [[Chloe Sevigny]] and [[the Olsen twins|Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen]] began wearing vintage frames.<ref name="about">Kae, Stella. [http://teenfashion.about.com/od/teenstylebasics/f/wayfarersFAQ.htm "How Do I Wear Wayfarer Sunglasses?"] About.com</ref><ref>Walker, Zoe. [http://www.runwayreporter.com/template10.asp?id=3919 "Risky Business!"] Runwayreporter.com ([[April 4]], [[2007]]).</ref> Ray-Ban designers soon noticed that vintage Wayfarers were commanding high prices on eBay,<ref name=rushton/> and the 2007 re-introduction of the original Wayfarer design aimed to respond to the demand.<ref>[http://www.wallpaper.com/design/Ray-Ban_Wayfarer_relaunch/1253 "Ray-Ban Wayfarer Relaunch."] [[Wallpaper*]] ([[January 25]], [[2007]]).</ref><ref name="wwd"/><ref name=rushton/>
Wayfarers were brought back into fashion in the mid-2000s when celebrities including [[Chloe Sevigny]] and [[the Olsen twins|Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen]] began wearing vintage frames.<ref name="about">Kae, Stella. [http://teenfashion.about.com/od/teenstylebasics/f/wayfarersFAQ.htm "How Do I Wear Wayfarer Sunglasses?"] About.com</ref><ref>Walker, Zoe. [http://www.runwayreporter.com/template10.asp?id=3919 "Risky Business!"] Runwayreporter.com ([[April 4]], [[2007]]).</ref> Ray-Ban designers soon noticed that vintage Wayfarers were commanding high prices on eBay,<ref name=rushton/> and the 2007 re-introduction of the original Wayfarer design aimed to respond to the demand.<ref>[http://www.wallpaper.com/design/Ray-Ban_Wayfarer_relaunch/1253 "Ray-Ban Wayfarer Relaunch."] [[Wallpaper*]] ([[January 25]], [[2007]]).</ref><ref name="wwd"/><ref name=rushton/>
Some other celebrities pictured wearing the vintage sunglasses in the late 2000s are [[Lindsay Lohan]], [[Britney Spears]], [[Rachel Bilson]], [[Sienna Miller]] and [[Adam Brody]]


==Notes==
==Notes==

Revision as of 20:57, 16 November 2007

Ray-Ban Wayfarer sunglasses
(RB2132 901L)

The Ray-Ban Wayfarer is an iconic design of sunglasses manufactured by Ray-Ban since 1952. Wayfarers enjoyed early popularity in the 1950s and 1960s, especially after they were worn by Audrey Hepburn in the 1961 movie Breakfast at Tiffany's. Though the sunglasses had faded from the limelight by the 1970s, a lucrative 1982 product placement deal brought Wayfarers to their height of popularity. In the mid-2000s, the sunglasses also enjoyed a brief revival. Wayfarers are sometimes cited as the best-selling design of sunglasses in history.[1][2][a]

Design

Figure 1, US design patent #169,995. Patent granted July 7, 1953, and assigned to Bausch and Lomb by Raymond F.E. Stegeman.[3]

Wayfarers were designed in 1952 by Raymond Stegeman,[4][3] an inventor who procured dozens of patents for Bausch and Lomb, Ray-Ban's parent company.[5] The design was a radically new shape, "a mid-century classic to rival Eames chairs and Cadillac tail fins."[4] According to one commentator, the "distinctive trapezoidal frame spoke a non-verbal language that hinted at unstable dangerousness, but one nicely tempered by the sturdy arms which, according to the advertising, gave the frames a 'masculine look.'"[4] Wayfarers, which took advantage of new plastics technology,[4] marked the transition between a period of eyewear with thin metal frames to a new era of plastic eyewear.[6]

Wayfarers sunglasses have gone through numerous design modifications during their history.[7] The oversized shades worn by Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's and the smaller frames worn by Cary Grant in North by Northwest are two examples of early Wayfarer silhouettes.[7] In 2001, the Wayfarer underwent a significant redesign, with the frames made smaller and less angular, and changed from acetate to a lighter injected plastic.[7] The changes were intended to make update the frames' style during a period of unpopularity and to make them easier to wear (the frames' previous tilt made them impossible to perch on top of one's head, for instance).[7] The original style of the Wayfarer was re-launched in 2007,[8][9][7] and Wayfarers are available in Original Wayfarer, New Wayfarer, and Wayfarer Folding styles as of 2007.[10]

During the 2000s Wayfarer revival, well after the expiration of Stegeman's 1953 design patent, designers unaffiliated with Ray-Ban produced several sunglass designs inspired by the original Wayfarers. Grey Ant's Grant Krajecki designed a larger, cartoonish version of the glasses "so extreme that [they] are best worn by those with a good sense of humor".[11] Sabre Vision's "Poolside" design is a smaller, thinner version that resembles "a cross between old-school Oakleys and the pair worn by Tom Cruise in 'Risky Business'".[11]

Sales and marketing

After Wayfarers were introduced by Ray-Ban in 1952,[12][13] they quickly rose in popularity. Kim Novak wore Wayfarers on the Cote d'Azur in 1954,[4] and Marilyn Monroe made Wayfarers into a "cult object."[12] The real turning point, however, was the 1961 movie Breakfast at Tiffany's, in which Audrey Hepburn wore tortoise shell Wayfarers sunglasses,[9][6] "transforming the Wayfarer into an accessory legend."[9] During the 1950s and 1960s, celebrities including John Lennon,[4] Bob Dylan,[14][4] James Dean,[15] John F. Kennedy,[16] Roy Orbison,[4] and Andy Warhol[15] were known for wearing Wayfarers.

Movie poster of Risky Business featuring Tom Cruise wearing a pair of Ray-Ban Wayfarers.

After Wayfarers' heyday in the 1950s and 1960s, sales declined.[4] Though Wayfarers were worn in the 1980 movie The Blues Brothers,[15] only 18,000 pairs were sold in 1981,[17] and Wayfarers were on the verge of discontinuation.[18]

The sunglasses' fate was reversed, however, when in 1982 Ray-Ban signed a $50,000-a-year deal with Unique Product Placement of Burbank, California, to put Ray-Bans into movies and television shows.[17] (Between 1982 and 1987, Ray-Ban sunglasses appeared in over 60 movies and television shows per year;[17] Ray-Ban's product placement efforts have continued through 2007.[19]) After Tom Cruise wore Wayfarers in the 1983 movie Risky Business, sales soared to 360,000 per year.[17] By 1986, after further appearances in Miami Vice and Moonlighting, sales had reached 1.5 million.[17] Wayfarers rose to popularity among musicians, including Johnny Marr,[9] Blondie's Debbie Harry,[9] Elvis Costello,[9] Morrissey,[15] Patti Smith,[15] and members of U2,[9] and among other celebrities such as Jack Nicholson[20] and even Anna Wintour.[21] Bret Easton Ellis' fiction, particularly The Informers, name-dropped references to Wayfarers frequently.[22] Ray-Ban's Wayfarer offerings expanded from two models in 1981 to more than 40 models in 1989,[23] and Wayfarers were the decade's sunglasses of choice.[24]

In the 1990s, the frames again became unpopular.[7] The 1950s revival that fueled the glasses' popularity in the 1980s had lost steam, and Wayfarers were outcompeted by wraparound frames.[7] Even the 2001 redesign of the sunglasses, intended to update the look, was poorly received: one eyewear boutique owner, commenting in The Independent in 2007, called the design "diluted" and "horrible."[7]

Model Emina Cunmulaj wearing white Ray-Ban Wayfarers, September 2007

Wayfarers were brought back into fashion in the mid-2000s when celebrities including Chloe Sevigny and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen began wearing vintage frames.[25][26] Ray-Ban designers soon noticed that vintage Wayfarers were commanding high prices on eBay,[7] and the 2007 re-introduction of the original Wayfarer design aimed to respond to the demand.[27][9][7] Some other celebrities pictured wearing the vintage sunglasses in the late 2000s are Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, Rachel Bilson, Sienna Miller and Adam Brody

Notes

a. ^ Ray-Ban Aviators have also been credited with this achievement.[28]

References

  1. ^ Hirschlag, Jennifer (citing Ray-Ban's brand director, Marcello Favagrossa). "Ray-Ban Tunes in to a New Generation." Women's Wear Daily (November 13, 2006).
  2. ^ Hambling, David. Weapons Grade: How Modern Warfare Gave Birth to Our High-Tech World. Carroll & Graf Publishers (2006): p69. ISBN 0786717696.
  3. ^ a b Stegeman, Raymond F.E. Front for Spectacle Frames. US Patent #169,995.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Bayley, Stephen. "Notes & Theories: Through a Pair of Glasses Darkly." The Independent on Sunday (June 18, 2006).
  5. ^ Google patent search for Raymond Stegeman. 70 of 72 patents issued to Stegeman were assigned to Bausch and Lomb.
  6. ^ a b Associated Press. "Grace, Audrey and Jackie define style forever." Palo Alto Daily News (December 6, 2006).
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rushton, Susie. "Dark Star." The Independent. (April 16, 2007.)
  8. ^ "Ray-Ban Wayfarer Relaunch." Wallpaper* (January 25, 2007).
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h Hirschlag, Jennifer. "Ray-Ban Tunes in to a New Generation." Women's Wear Daily (November 13, 2006).
  10. ^ Ray-Ban. Official website (2007). Accessed October 7, 2007.
  11. ^ a b Magsaysay, Melissa. "Wayfarers still lead the way." L.A. Times (November 4, 2007).
  12. ^ a b Heinonen, Visa, Jukka Kortti, and Mika Pantzar. "How Lifestyle Products Became Rooted in the Finnish Consumer Market: Domestication of Jeans, Chewing Gum, Sunglasses, and Cigarettes." National Consumer Research Center, Working Papers 80 (2003).
  13. ^ Freeth, Nick. Made in America: From Levi's To Barbie To Google. MBI Publishing Company (2005): p232-33. ISBN 0760322708.
  14. ^ Goodman, Elizabeth. "In Which We All Want To Be Bob Dylan." Rolling Stone Rock and Roll Daily (January 4, 2007). Accessed October 7, 2007.
  15. ^ a b c d e Chang, Vickie. "Trendzilla: Wayfaring the Right Way." Orange County Weekly (March 22, 2007).
  16. ^ Whiting, Sam. "Shades' Future Is Bright." San Francisco Chronicle (April 20, 1995), E5.
  17. ^ a b c d e Leinster, Colin. "A Tale of Mice and Lens." Fortune (September 28, 1987).
  18. ^ August, Melissa et al. "Through A Glass Darkly." Time (July 12, 1999).
  19. ^ Passariello, Christina. "Return of the Wayfarers: Luxottica revamps once-cool Ray-Bans with an eye to women." The Wall Street Journal Europe (October 27, 2006).
  20. ^ Spade, Kate. Style. Simon and Schuster (2004), p66. ISBN 0743250672.
  21. ^ Oppenheimer, Jerry. Front Row: Anna Wintour, the Cool Life and Hot Times of Vogue's Editor-in-Chief. St. Martin's Press (2005): p215. ISBN 0312323107.
  22. ^ Publishers Weekly. Review (The Informers). Barnesandnoble.com.
  23. ^ Norris, Scott. "Boosting the Hottest Shades Under the Sun." Rochester Business Journal (Oct. 9, 1989), section 1, p10.
  24. ^ MJ. "Style Spy." GQ.com (October 2007).
  25. ^ Kae, Stella. "How Do I Wear Wayfarer Sunglasses?" About.com
  26. ^ Walker, Zoe. "Risky Business!" Runwayreporter.com (April 4, 2007).
  27. ^ "Ray-Ban Wayfarer Relaunch." Wallpaper* (January 25, 2007).
  28. ^ Sporkin, Elizabeth. "Ray-Bans have it made in the shades." USA Today. May 6, 1987.
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